Bengaluru, May 17: Left to itself, Karnataka will look to spring back towards normalcy under Lockdown 4.0 as the state government is on standby to resume public transport services from May 18, if the Centre allows it.
Though KSRTC and BMTC have been preparing for resumption of services, officials in the two corporations told DH that they cannot make a move till the government makes a decision.
Transport Commissioner N Shivakumar said the department will take a decision based on the state government's orders. "The government will take a call on buses as well as taxi and other transport services," he said.
Senior officials in the state government said Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi has written to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari seeking a nod for resumption of the services.
Transport Secretary Gaurav Gupta has written a separate letter to his counterpart in the Union government requesting permission to operate public transport. "The state government wants the services to open. The official has listed out the steps the corporations will take to ensure social distancing other steps that will be taken to check spread of Coronavirus," a source said.
The B S Yediyurappa administration has been bullish on easing lockdown restrictions.
If the Centre empowers the states to define Lockdown 4.0, Karnataka is likely to do away with the red-orange-green zoning of districts and allow public services to resume, except in COVID-19 containment zones. The government is also likely to redefine its containment strategy by micromanaging localities where COVID-19 cases are reported, without letting life in an entire district get affected.
The government has already shown willingness to allow hotels and gyms to open after May 17 subject to social distancing norms and restrictions. In fact, the government has proposed to allow the resumption of all economic activities in standalone establishments. The government, however, is not keen on opening malls, theatres, diners and establishments that have centralized air conditioning.
“Everything depends on the Centre,” Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan said. “Our only stand is that the red zone should be treated at par with the other zone when it comes to relaxation.”
"List it for hearing tomorrow," a bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice U U Lalit said, when Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for PSU banks, mentioned the matter for urgent hearing.
Comments
@ Rikaz....
You quoted as Quraan and this is not Quraan that is Hadeeth. In Hadeeth Muhammad Sallalahu Alaih Wa Sallam said pay the wages of the labor before their sweatings wipes out...
First of all government should make sure that this man should pay salaries of all employees...if he doesn't, should put him behind bar...forget about banks loans bla bla bla...in Quran it is clearly mentioned employee must be paid by his employer his wages before he wipes out his sweat....because of that reason he is suffering....he cannot get away from the curse of those employees and their families....
Mallya got into airlines is his popi kala.....it was his own death trap...
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